10 Deathbed Confessions That Solved Crimes

WatchMojo

The truth always finds a way out... Join us as we explore shocking final confessions that brought closure to cold cases! From bank heists and missing persons to decades-old murders, these individuals couldn't take their secrets to the grave. Their deathbed revelations finally solved mysteries that had baffled investigators for years.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo. And today, we're exploring the most shocking times that people confessed

00:08to a crime shortly before they believed they'd pass away, leading to a cold case finally being

00:15solved. Larry Webb. In 2000, Natasha, Alex Carter, and her mother Susan vanished from West Virginia.

00:27For years, the authorities had no idea what happened, yet Alex's father, Rick Lafferty,

00:33kept searching. Finally, they had an answer in 2022. While staying at a nursing facility,

00:45Webb informed the police that he'd killed the mother and daughter at his home, where they were

00:50residing at the time. After some of his money went missing, he blamed Susan, resulting in a fatal

00:56shooting. He then took Alex's life as she witnessed the crime. Investigators examined the house and

01:02found a bullet in the wall of Alex's bedroom. Shortly after Webb died in 2024, Alex and Susan's

01:15bodies were found buried at his home. Just never give it up. Never. Because someone's going to

01:21listen. Eventually, someone will listen. Theodore John Conrad. In 2021, Thomas Randall was approaching

01:29his demise from lung cancer. Shortly after a chemotherapy session, he decided to come clean

01:35to his daughter. Mom, dad and I were in the living room watching NCIS, and he just sort of out of the blue

01:41calmly said, well, ladies, just in case something comes up after I pass, I just need to let you know

01:51that I changed my name when I moved here. He admitted that his real name was Theodore John Conrad,

01:57and that he'd been on the run since 1969. That year, he'd stolen $250,000, around $1.9 million

02:05now, from the bank he worked at in Cleveland, Ohio, before vanishing from the authorities.

02:11On the Friday before his 20th birthday, he simply filled a bag full of cash and walked away,

02:17never to be seen again. U.S. Marshal John K. Elliott and his son Peter, who took over the case,

02:23spent years searching for Randall. After Randall's passing in 2021, Peter was tipped off about his

02:30obituary and pieced it together. The family admitted they knew about Randall's confession,

02:35but they didn't face criminal charges for not disclosing it. I just assumed that since I had

02:41no secrets from him, he wouldn't have any from me. James Washington. In 2009, while serving a 15-year

02:49sentence for attempted murder, Washington suffered a heart attack that caused him to be hospitalized

02:53And he just kind of, as best he could, motioned for me and asked me to come here,

02:58I got something to tell you. Believing his life to be nearing its end, he called over prison guard

03:02James Tomlinson and confessed to the 1995 murder of Joyce Goodner, whose body was found in an

03:08abandoned house in Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, there was no physical evidence linking anyone

03:15to the crime. Unfortunately for Washington, he survived his medical crisis and was charged with

03:20Goodner's murder. Washington alleged that the medicine he was given in the hospital

03:30caused him to give a false confession. However, that wasn't believed, and he was found guilty of

03:40Goodner's murder in 2012, earning him a life sentence.

03:45Naman Diller. In 1983, the L.A. Mayor Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem experienced a heist.

03:52After casing the place, memorizing guard routes, and taking advantage of a broken alarm,

03:57the thief took off with 106 timepieces, including the legendary Marie Antoinette watch by Abraham-Louis

04:04Breguet, worth over $30 million. Despite a $2 million reward for information, the items weren't seen

04:11again. However, in 2006, that changed when Nili Shamrat agreed to sell some of the goods back to

04:19the museum for around $40,000. However, after the news of the deal leaked, the police investigated.

04:26Shortly before her husband Diller passed away in 2004, he confessed to Shamrat that he'd robbed the

04:32museum. I heard things about his pet. I have fallen in love with him.

04:37For keeping it secret, she was sentenced to probation and community service.

04:42Otis Toole. In 1981, Adam Walsh vanished from a department store in Hollywood, Florida.

04:48Police are so frustrated. Nobody's really come forth, and the clues that we have, really,

04:54we haven't come up with anything substantial. While the media descended on the area to publicize

05:00the search for him, after two weeks, Adam's remains were found. For decades, the killer wasn't found.

05:07Adam's father, John, became an anti-crime activist and hosted America's Most Wanted.

05:11Good evening from Washington, D.C. It's Sunday, April 15th, and I'm John Walsh.

05:16One person linked to Adam's murder was Toole, who confessed to it multiple times. However,

05:22he recanted it each time. In 1984, Toole was found guilty of several other murders,

05:28earning him life imprisonment. During that period, he admitted to further killings.

05:33In 1996, just before he died, Toole's niece stated he confessed to Adam's murder. Despite that,

05:40it wasn't until 2008 when the police concluded Toole was responsible and closed the case.

05:46Police say the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming.

05:49This is a date that's long overdue. It truly is.

05:52Sharon Diane Crawford-Smith. In 2008, Smith was approaching the end of her life with a terminal

05:59illness. With time running out, she decided to put to bed a secret she'd held onto for decades.

06:05So, Diane, are you finally ready to, uh, tell us what happened that night?

06:10I don't want anybody to hear this. I want everybody out.

06:12In 1967, Smith was working at High's ice cream shop in Staunton, Virginia. After being mocked by

06:19co-workers Constance Smoots-Heavener and Carolyn Heavener-Perry for being a lesbian,

06:24Smith shot the duo at the shop and stole money from the register.

06:28No one was sentenced in the case. Smith also claimed the lead detective, David Bocock,

06:40knew what she'd done and he'd hidden the firearm to cover the crime up. However,

06:45he passed away in 2006. A month after being charged with a double murder, Smith passed away.

06:51Stanton, Virginia's greatest mystery has finally been solved.

06:56Geraldine Kelly. For over a decade, Kelly's two children believed their father,

07:01John, had left the family and perished in a car accident. Yet in 2004, shortly before succumbing to

07:08cancer, she finally told them the truth. When it was clear that her days were numbered,

07:12Jerry called her daughter to her bedside. When the couple were working as in-house managers at a

07:18California motel, they regularly fought, which was reportedly witnessed by their children,

07:23who later became estranged from them. The violence resulted in Kelly fatally shooting John around 1992

07:29before conducting her deception. Jerry said she had finally had enough.

07:33She then placed his body in a storage freezer, even moving it with her when she relocated from

07:39California to Somerville, Massachusetts. The police investigated and found John's remains

07:45still in the freezer. Harvey Richardson. In 2008, decorators were inside Richardson's home

07:52in Aspole, England. They were there to clean up after his passing. However, the workers stumbled upon

07:58a satchel containing an envelope labeled, Private and Confidential. Inside was a nine-page confession

08:04that Richardson had taken the life of Lorraine Jacob in Liverpool during 1970. The envelope also

08:11had a newspaper clipping about the case. In 2009, after Richardson's DNA matched the evidence in Jacob's

08:18case, the police confirmed that if he were alive, he would have been charged with their murder before

08:23closing the case. Richardson's envelope also contained a clipping about Jacqueline Ansel Lamb's unsolved

08:29murder in 1970. However, no confession or evidence linked him to that crime.

08:36Paul Michael Stefani. In 1997, while serving a 58-year sentence for murdering Barbara Simons and

08:43attempting to murder Denise Williams, Stefani, better known as the weepy-voiced killer for the remorseful

08:49phone calls he had made to the cops, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. So, he decided

08:55to come clean about some more killings and attacks he'd done in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

09:01As well as confirming he was responsible for the crimes he was already convicted of,

09:06in 1980, Stefani severely attacked Karen Potak. In 1981, he took Kimberly Compton's life. While he was

09:13suspected of these murders due to the phone calls to the police, Stefani also confirmed he killed

09:18Kathy Greening in 1982, which he had no connection to. In 1998, Stefani died from his illness.

09:26Satoshi Kirishima. In 1975, as part of the extremist group, the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front,

09:53Kirishima took part in a series of bombings in Japan. However, shortly after, the group was raided

09:59by the police, resulting in several arrests. Yet, Kirishima vanished, becoming one of the country's

10:06most wanted fugitives. In 2024, Hiroshi Ukaida was undergoing treatment for terminal cancer in a

10:13hospital, with his life approaching its end. He told staff he wanted to spend his remaining time

10:19not living under his pseudonym, but his real name, Kirishima. The police then arrested him,

10:25taking a DNA sample to test his claims. Yet, while the test comparing his sample to relatives

10:31confirmed he was Kirishima, he passed away before it was completed. What other incidents of deathbed

10:38confessions that solved crimes did we miss from our video? Let us know below.

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